The Pouring Rain
by Absolute Fairy Tail Trash
Summary: Gruvia AU one shot. Gray is late to Lucy's birthday party, and when he slips and falls in the ceaseless rain, a blue-haired girl named Juvia helps him out. Update: Was a one shot, but I'm continuing it!
1. The Pouring Rain

The thing Gray would remember most about that day was the rain. It pounded down in sheets, the deafening noise destroying his ears, as it hit the pavement with a splat. Gray's skin was soaked to the bone, having ditched his soaked shirt and pants ages ago. His boxers clung to his legs and the fabric clung together as his feet slapped the cobblestone road.

_Damn it_. Gray couldn't be late. Not today.

* * *

The thing Juvia would remember most about that day was the way her coffee tasted funny. Normally, the man threw a pinch of cinnamon in it for her, but the cinnamon was gone, and her coffee tasted just, weird. Juvia sighed as she stirred her cooling coffee. She looked out the window to see the pouring rain, blocking all view beyond.

Juvia turned back to her coffee. That same boy was staring at her. For the last few times Juvia had been at her regular café in the evenings, that boy with the white hair was there. Today he was with a girl with pink hair who was animatedly talking to the boy, but his attention was on Juvia.

Juvia blushed. Was there coffee on her chin? Was there coffee on her dress? Was her fly open? No, wait, Juvia was wearing a dress. She didn't have a zipper. Juvia attempted to ignore the boy, and looked down to her coffee.

After a few minutes, Juvia got up. The boy with white hair's stare was starting to freak her out, and the girl with pink hair had noticed and was currently shooting death glares at Juvia that would put Medusa to shame.

Her coffee was no good anyway.

* * *

Gray shook water from his black hair, but it made no difference two seconds later. The rain was still in full swing, and Gray could barely see two feet in front of him.

Gray was soooooooooooo late. His friend from school, Lucy was having her birthday party today and his other friend, Erza, was going to kill him if he wasn't there. It's not that Gray didn't like Lucy particularly, it's just that he sorta forgot, and Loke had barely managed to remind him 20 minutes earlier.

So here Gray was, sprinting through the streets to get to Lucy's house so Erza didn't murder him for making the cake wait. The party was sure to be a disaster anyway. Erza would eat all of the cake, Natsu would manage to burn down half of Lucy's house (and her house was about the size of Magnolia- damn those rich people). Cana would manage to find the alcohol storage and bleed it dry. Everyone else would get into a brawl in the living room five minutes in and get kicked out five minutes later. Yay for friends!

Gray's phone managed to ding again, so Gray squinted at the screen as he ran.

* * *

Where are you?

-E

Gray, get your butt to Lucy's house now.

-E

_Gray! Where are you? You're missing the fun! I'm all fired up!_

_-Natsu_

**Be a man and come to the party!**

**Elfman**

Don't tell me you forgot.

-E

_Just saw the hottest girl. Café Fairy._

_Lyon_

GRAY, WHATS GOING ON?

-E

**Gray! I forgot a present. Can I put my name on yours?**

**Happy**

_The party sucks. Don't waste your time._

_-Laxus_

I AM NOT WAITING FOR CAKE ANY LONGER!

-E

**Lucy's getting worried. I hate seeing her like this. Where are you?**

**Loke**

* * *

Gray must not have heard his phone going off in the rain. Gray sighed. By now he was surely going to be murdered. Gray went to put his phone away, only to slip. A puddle stopped Gray's foot, sending his body flying. His phone trickled off somewhere and Gray lay splattered on the concrete like a fried egg.

_Damn it. I'll never make it to the party now._ Gray started to sit up, but the pain was too immense and he fell back down.

A door opened, and light filtered out of a nearby place (Gray really couldn't see in the rain). Please help me.

The door closed and someone starting walking over to him. All Gray could see was a pink umbrella. The pink umbrella approached him, and reached down.

Gray flinched. A face was right next to his. It was a girl's, and she had bright blue hair in curls as well as deep blue eyes.

"Are you alright? What happened? Do you need help?" she asked. Gray groaned in pain, hoping to send the message.

"Oh, Juvia sees. You must've slipped. What's your name?"

"Gray," he choked.

"Gray…-sama," Juvia decided, mentally filling in a blank. "Here. Let Juvia help." Juvia reached down and helped him stand up. He put his arm around her and Juvia supported him as he regained his bearings. The umbrella was nice though. The rain was still harsh.

"Juvia…thank…you," Gray stuttered.

"Oh, it's nothing," Juvia smiled. "Do you need to get somewhere? A hospital?"

Gray looked at the bluenette who was going to help him out tremendously. "Actually…"

* * *

Gray and Juvia stood under the pink umbrella in front of the Heartfilia mansion, as the rain continued to splatter ceaselessly.

"Whoa." Juvia's eyes were as big as an anime character's. "You live here?"

Gray nervous laughed. "No, my friend from school, Lucy. It was her birthday party today and I sort of… forgot. I was sprinting here when I slipped and you helped me."

Juvia nodded in acknowledgement. _Lucy, huh?_ "What school do you go to?"

Gray replied, "Fairy High. Home of the, you guessed it, fairies. I'm a senior."

Juvia laughed. "Juvia goes to Phantom Academy. She's a senior too."

After a few minutes of awkward silence (except for the rain), Gray turned to Juvia. "Thanks so much for helping me today. You really saved my butt. I need to go in, but do you want to come with me? We already have so many party-crashers, they more than double the invitees." The two looked towards the mansion, lit up and pulsing with music. "There were 4 invitees."

Juvia laughed. "Thank you, Gray-sama, but no thank you. Juvia has to go. Tell Lucy Juvia said Happy Birthday."

Gray prepared to sprint out of the umbrella towards the house. "Well, maybe I'll see you around sometime. And be careful out there."

"As to you, Gray-sama," Juvia nodded. They smiled one last time, and went their separate ways. Gray to the partying mansion, and Juvia into the rain, under her umbrella.

As Juvia walked away from the estate, she pulled out her phone.

* * *

**Hey Gajeel-kun. Juvia just met the best boy ever. Gray-sama's so perfect!**

**-Juvia**

Calm it, Rain Woman, this isn't a fairy tale.

-G

* * *

The end.


	2. A Second Meeting

**Hello! This was originally supposed to be just a one-shot, but I've decided to continue on and elaborate further. So if you liked the ending and thought the first chapter was okay but not really worth any more of your time, don't read on. Those who liked it a lot and want more, here you go!**

* * *

It was still raining. Juvia stared up at her ceiling, the blank surface a complete contrast from the whirling thoughts or her brain. Gray. Gray. Gray. Gray. Gray-sama. Did he think she was weird for calling him that? It was an impulse, a moment of decision, and Juvia was scared he might be creeped out by it. It wasn't everybody who went around calling others sama. Maybe he would think it was cute?

Uggh. Juvia could not get him out of her mind. She sighed and turned to her side, checking her phone. The bright screen lit up and she blinked from the momentary blindness. A text from Aria about the Physics test on Thursday, and a notification her History project was due Tuesday. Juvia noticed it was already 2 am. She dropped her phone and fell back onto her blue pillow, listening to the rain. Maybe Gray-sama was doing the exact same thing.

After a few more minutes of lying there, she decided she might as well do something. Juvia crept out of bed, careful not to wake Marie, Reyna, Joan, and Savannah. Juvia left the door open a crack as she stepped into the dark hall. A shadow ominously fell onto the carpet. Juvia tiptoed down the stairs into the brightly lit kitchen, covering her eyes to shield them from the lamp.

Juvia slid into her regular wood chair across the table from an older woman shuffling through some papers. She had her greying hair tied in a bun on the top of her head. Her glasses perched on her nose and she wore a light yellow robe.

"What is it, Juvia?" she asked, forcing her quiet voice.

Juvia fingered the wood table, before whispering, "Uh, Juvia, Juvia couldn't sleep."

"You foolish girl. You're going to wake the girls." The woman didn't even stop shuffling through the papers, instead pulling one out and handing it to her.

"Look here, Juvia," she pointed. "You aren't even at the top of your class. You're in second, the worst possible position for an idiot like you who needs to maintain that scholarship."

Juvia looked down at the record. Yep, Juvia was in second. Aria was first, no surprise there. Gajeel had somehow managed to make third. He probably bullied the teachers into giving him good grades.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Alexandria. Juvia will do better."

Ms. Alexandria glared at her. "You better. I have to put up with you and your counseling costs so if you want to be in a good school like Phantom, you have to maintain that scholarship."

Juvia tugged on one of her blue curls. "Actually, Juvia wanted… um, can Juvia…"

"Spit it out, girl!" Ms. Alexandria cried.

"Juvia wants to transfer to Fairy!"

Ms. Alexandria stopped. She sat up and looked at Juvia. She started to laugh. "You have to be kidding me! Fairy is a bunch of intoxicated idiots who run around without their pants on, throwing parties, and their grades out the window with it. If you want to live a life where you can support yourself, you're staying at Phantom. The second you graduate from high school, you're out of my house. What you learn at Fairy will have you living on the streets, begging for alcohol money, while Phantom will have you out of my sight forever. The only reason I moved to this town was so you girls could get a good education at Phantom. Why would you even want to go to Fairy anyway? I thought you wanted the honor that came from a Phantom diploma."

Juvia looked down. "Juvia met… she met a boy today… and he um…"

Ms. Alexandria sat back, smirking. "Ah, it all makes sense now. You like a boy." She leaned forward. "I'm sorry to tell you this Juvia, but no boy would ever like you. Not in a million years."

The words stung like darts no matter how many times Ms. Alexandria had said them before. Tears hung in the corners of her eyes, and it took every fiber of her being to keep them from falling.

"Ms. Alexandria?" A voice sing-songed from the top of the stairs. There stood her foster sisters, Marie, Reyna, Joan, and Savannah.

"Oh, Juvia. I thought I heard you." The girls snickered and flounced down the stairs. Juvia wiped her eyes and stood up, slowly climbing the stairs. On her way down, Marie stuck out a foot, and Juvia went flying.

The girls laughed and made their way to the table as Juvia ran up to her room and collapsed onto the bed, sobbing. Outside, the rain continued to pour.

* * *

Gray woke up to a dull pounding in his head. He opened his eyes, light flowing through the open blinds. Crap. He forgot to close them.

Gray sat back. Why won't the pounding go away? Then Gray realized.

"ULTEAR! WHAT THE HELL? QUIT IT!" Gray screamed at the door.

"THEN GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED AND DOWNSTAIRS! UR'S ORDERS!" Ultear screamed back, still pounding.

"I'M COMING! JUST STOP THE NOISE!" Gray heard Ultear leave, running down the hall, probably to give Lyon the same treatment. Gray grumbled as he stepped out of bed. He started to open the door when he noticed he wasn't wearing any pants. Crap. Oh well.

Gray walked into the kitchen, and Lyon was the first to call him out, chewed toast falling out of his mouth.

"Gray, pants."

"Gross!" Ultear commented, setting her own toast down in disgust. Lyon preceded to shove his face next to hers and show off his chewed toast in all its glory.

"Knock it off!" Ur cried, rustling through the fridge. "Lyon, did you go shopping like I told you too?" Ur asked over her shoulder. The shopping list still hung on the fridge, obvious evidence.

"No," Lyon replied casually. "I was at Café Fairy with Sherry."

"Well then, here's your lunch." Ur set a couple of ice cubes on the counter.

Gray and Ultear glared at him. Ur brushed off her hands and joined them at the counter. She began to dole out information. "Gray, you have more pants in the dryer. Lyon, Sherry called. Something about love. Ultear, Meredy will be here in ten minutes to walk to school."

"Um, Mom, I don't go to school. You homeschool me," Ultear objected.

"Damn it. See, this is why I'm getting grey hair. You all have to go to twenty different schools and you won't even consider transferring. Whichever one of you goes to Blue Pegasus, your bus is here in five minutes."

This time Lyon objected. "None of us go to Blue Pegasus."

"Well, you do now!"

* * *

Gray was sprinting through the streets of Magnolia, this time with clothes on (hopefully, he hadn't checked). School started in maybe 10 minutes (Gray didn't know for sure, he hadn't checked). He breathed heavily, throwing open random store's doors. There they were! His pants!

Gray had been leaving the house earlier that morning when he had noticed something. Erza hadn't texted him yet. Erza made a point of texting everyone every morning to see if they were alive or not. Was Erza alive?

Gray had reached into his pocket. His phone was gone. No biggie. It was probably in the last pair of pants he wore. It was gonna just be sitting on the top of the washing machine with a post-it note from Ur scolding him. Gray had run into the laundry room, but it hadn't been there.

Crap. He had left his jacket, shirt, and pants on the street when they had gotten soaked last night. Gray had extra clothes at all his friends' houses, so it hadn't worried him. But now Gray's phone was gone, and Ur was going to _kill_ him.

Gray had skipped the bus, instead taking a detour throughout the town. So he ran through street after street, trying to see everywhere. Gray threw open the door and screamed into a café.

"HAS ANYONE SEEN A PAIR OF BLACK PANTS!?" Everyone in the café shook their heads, and Gray spun around. Crap. Crap. Crap.

There they were! His clothes lay crumpled up across from the café and they looked like they had gone through hell. They were ripped and covered in mud. This was a good mile from where he dropped them, so they must have been dragged here by some cars or something. Gray would never wear them again. But that didn't matter.

Gray tore the fabric apart frantically. There it was! His phone with the light blue case Ultear had gotten him for his birthday. The phone was covered in mud but it still worked, and that's what counted. Gray practically kissed it before running over to the café.

Gray started yelling as he started pulling open the door. "I FOU-" Before Gray could open the door fully, it slammed out, hitting Gray across the face and sending him sprawling onto the road. His phone went flying again. Crap.

Gray's head was throbbing and his body hurt from the sudden impact. Gray weakly touched his forehead and felt something warm and sticky.

There was a splash of something dropped into a puddle, a gasp, and someone practically threw herself onto him. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. Juvia is sososososososoooo sorry. Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay. Juvia is sooooooooo sorry."

Gray squinted his eyes open. The face in front of his had deep blue eyes and blue curls surrounding it. He felt a minute of deja vu. "Juv-juvia?"

Juvia sat back. "Gray-sama? Is that you?" He nodded and she gasped. "Juvia is sosososososososooooooo sorry."

Gray nervous laughed. "It's okay. This has been happening a lot lately." Juvia frowned and helped pull him up.

"So, Gray-sama, what were you doing here?" Juvia asked, once Gray was firmly on the ground.

Gray sighed. "I lost my phone and Ur's gonna kill me if don't find it, so I was rushing to find it before school starts and I have way too many tardies already. At this rate I won't even graduate."

Juvia nodded. "So why need to find your phone. But who's Ur?"

"She's my adoptive mom. She took me in when I was little and my parents were killed in a car crash."

Juvia's eyes drifted down. Gray stopped, waving his hands. "Don't get all sad about it! We just need to find my phone. I had it before the door knocked it out of my hand."

Juvia nodded, but remained silent. The two started searching all over the street stretch, before Juvia called out. "Gray-sama! Is it a light blue case?"

Gray jumped and ran over to her. "That's the one!"

Juvia was still kneeling on the ground, phone in hand. "You have the same one as Juvia!" She pulled out her phone, an exact match to his.

He took his phone and kneeled down behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Today has been full of coincidences."

Gray realized how close he was to the girl, his chest almost touching her back. He stumbled back and at the same time, a car came rushing past them. The force knocked Gray and Juvia off their feet and they lay in the middle of the street. He laughed and picked up his phone from where it had fallen next to Juvia's.

He pulled her up and they walked back to the door of the café. Juvia picked up her bag from where it had dropped into the water. Gray checked his phone. 7:57. Crap. He was gonna be late for school.

He yelled back to Juvia as he started sprinting towards his school. "See you later, Juvia! Hopefully I'll be wearing full body armor!"

Juvia laughed but then called back to him. "Fairy High is the other way, Gray-sama!"

"I knew that."


	3. Phantom Academy

**The end of this chapter gets a little messed up, so just bear with me.**

* * *

Juvia grabbed her book bag, slinging it over her shoulder, as the final bell resounded through the halls.

"Don't forget! Finish page 22 for tomorrow!" the teacher called out, but half of the class was already out of the room. Juvia sighed.

She traipsed to her locker, where Gajeel was already waiting.

He crossed his arms. "What took you so long? I've been waiting here for ten minutes."

Juvia opened her locker and pulled out her umbrella. "Sorry, Gajeel-kun, but some of us can't just walk out on class whenever we feel like it."

He grumbled as they started for the exit. "You promised me food today."

"Juvia said she'd pay for food if you studied for the Physics test on Thursday." He rolled his eyes, and Juvia frowned. "Juvia's serious. You can't just get good grades by bullying teachers. The point of school is to learn."

They walked down the street in silence. "So, can we go to that new steak place to study?" Gajeel asked.

"Juvia doesn't have that kind of money. How about McDonald's?"

"Now that's just cheap. Whats the point of being friends with you if you don't treat me to gourmet lunches?" he complained.

Juvia looked around. There was a small restaurant that looked relatively empty that would work for studying. "How about there?" she pointed.

"Fine. But I get to order whatever I want."

While Gajeel was busy stuffing his face with half the menu, Juvia was looking over her notes. "So, what did you get for 32 on page 76?"

Gajeel didn't even look up. "C."

"Gajeel-kun, this is serious. The teacher said this would be the biggest test of the semester. You have to get a good grade. Juvia's trying to help you."

Gajeel sighed and stole Juvia's notebook. "Number 32? I had whatever this big long paragraph says."

Juvia sat back, crossing her arms. She stared out of the window, as Gajeel ate the other half of the menu. Juvia could hear the slight drip of rain as it started to sprinkle.

Juvia sat back up. "Gajeel-kun? What would you say if Juvia said she was going to transfer to Fairy High?"

Gajeel stared at her before cracking up. Liquid poured out of his nose. Juvia sighed, leaned back, and stared out the window again.

"Oh. You were serious," Gajeel realized. Juvia nodded. "Wait, why the hell would you want to transfer? I thought you loved Phantom."

Juvia grimaced. "Juvia does, but…"

Gajeel smacked himself in the forehead. "This is because of that stupid guy you were talking about, isn't it."

Juvia nodded.

"You can't just throw away everything for some guy you barely met. I'm sure he's a complete jerk with an IQ of 3. Besides if you transfer, who's homework am I supposed to copy?"

"You could do it yourself for once. Or, you could join Fairy with me! It would be great!" Juvia's face was lit up.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "I'd rather set my head on fire. Besides, you'd never join Fairy. That witch would kill you and so would Headmaster Jose."

Juvia waved her arms. "But aren't friends supposed to support other friends?"

"Whatever." Gajeel stood up, checking his phone. "I gotta go. Dad needs me."

Juvia nodded solemnly. "Tell Metalicana Juvia said hi."

"Whatever."

Juvia looked outside, where the rain had picked up.

* * *

"So, how was everyone's day?" Ur tried, but the room was full of tension. The three teens picked at their strange combination of food: Freezer burned chicken nuggets, blueberry icecream, and garden carrots with cocktail sauce. Ultear had forgotten to go to the store.

Lyon rolled his eyes. "You got my bus time wrong and I spent the morning on a bus going to some all-girls school. I had to sit next to this really creepy girl who kept muttering about killing Jellal or somebody. And before I could ask for directions to Lamia, a cat girl tossed me in a recycling bin."

Ultear nodded. "I got stuck on a bus full of idiots screaming "Wild Four."

"You don't even ride a school bus," Lyon contemplated. "You're homeschooled." Ultear shrugged.

"I forgot which way Fairy was," Gray offered.

Ur's eyes widened. "Now, the school told me about how you ran around naked when Natsu hung your underwear from a flagpole and how you got caught underage drinking today, but I didn't know about that."

"It was before school."

Ultear stuck out her fork. "So, you could care less about him in his birthday suit and breaking the law, but getting lost scares you?"

Ur shrugged. "You have to prioritize."

Gray sat up in his room, collapsing on the bed. He pulled out his phone. Weird. No texts from any one, just some guy named Aria. Gray had no idea who Aria was, but he probably went to school with him. Last year at the end of the year dance, Happy stole Gray's phone and passed it around to everyone. That's why Gray had this Aria guy in his contacts.

_Don't go to school tomorrow. Canceled._

Okay. Worked for Gray. He turned off the light and climbed into bed, the rain pounding outside. Gray dropped his phone on the floor before conking out. A minute later, unbeknownst to Gray, the screen lit up again.

_It's really sad Juvia. Don't come._

* * *

Juvia woke up. She yawned. Juvia ckecked her phone. Whoa. It was filled to the brim with hundreds of text messages from people she had never heard of. Erza? Natsu? Lucy? Happy? Who were these people?

Juvia looked at the most recent one from someone named Cana.

Where r u? u cant b tardy anymor. But dont come 2 school. getting sum lectur on behavior outside of school. im way 2 drunk

Huh? These didn't make any sense. Someone probably had the wrong number. Juvia checked the time. 10:38. 10:38? Her alarm clock hadn't gone off! Her perfect attendance record! Juvia scrambled out of bed, threw on her dress, and ran down the stairs. Ms. Alexandria sat there smirking. Juvia would make it faster if she could drive her, but Ms. Alexandria never did anything to help her.

Juvia grabbed her umbrella and started sprinting through the pouring rain. When she finally arrived at the school, all of the lights were off.

Juvia didn't notice this, but flung open the front door anyway. As she ran through the halls, her footsteps reverberated. Where was everyone?

Juvia checked every classroom, the auditorium, the cafeteria, even the gym. Was it a weekend? Nope. It was a Tuesday.

Juvia finally checked the administration offices. She could hear the people before she saw them. Juvia flung open Headmaster Jose's door.

Gajeel was busy pounding in the head of a boy with pink hair. Blood was everywhere, and the worst part: Gajeel was laughing. Juvia knew her friend could be mean, but she thought he had stopped doing this to people. Totomaru, Aria, and Sol sat with Headmaster Jose, and they all looked bored. A blonde girl covered in blood and bruises lay on the floor.

"What the…" Juvia was at a loss for words.

Gajeel dropped the pink-haired boy on the floor. "Rain woman. What, what are you doing here? I thought Aria had sent you a text."

"What are you doing here, Gajeel-kun? Why are you beating up these people? Why are you laughing?" Juvia couldn't believe it.

Gajeel laughed. "This punk decided to pick a fight with me the other day and I'm just returning the favor. That girl over there just tried to get in the way."

"But, but why are you all just watching? Stop this!" Juvia pleaded.

Headmaster Jose shrugged. "I can't have little idiots like this thinking they're as good as my prize students. We're just teaching him a lesson."

"Its so sorrowful! We must show we're the best."

Headmaster Jose sighed. "This is why we didn't want you to come today, Miss Lockser."

Juvia felt tears roll down her cheeks. "Juvia thought you all were her friends! But you're all so twisted!" She turned to Gajeel. "Does Juvia have a good enough reason to leave Phantom now?"

She wanted to turn and leave crying, but she had to help Gajeel's victims. The girl was unconsious. The boy was still conscious, but barely. Juvia helped him stand up and he leaned on her.

The boy turned to Gajeel. "You ba…" The boy dropped the sentence, nearly passing out on her shoulder. Juvia balanced him carefully, trying to lean the girl on her other shoulder. It was a challenge to get them out of the school, and she lost every bit of dignity trying to do it. Thankfully no one came running after her, or she would've been screwed.

About a half of a mile from the campus, Juvia found a Walmart. The road until then had been deserted. She screamed for help in the parking lot, and Juvia wasn't able to remember much after that. Somebody called for an ambulance. Juvia was questioned. She was let go. The boy and girl were probably taken to a hospital.

Juvia started walking home. She was tired and confused, and about a mile from her house, she passed out.

When Juvia awoke, a couple of hours had passed. Her head pounded and she knew she was somewhere foreign. Sunlight filtered through half-closed binds.

Juvia sat up, groaning. A voice popped out of nowhere. "Are you okay?" Juvia turned to see a little girl, no older than 12. She had dark blue hair and large brown eyes.

Juvia flinched. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you!" she pleaded. "I'm Wendy. I found you passed out on the street and decided to help. What's your name?"

Juvia slowly blinked to get her bearings. She was in a small room, decorated in blues with white clouds. Juvia was in a smaller twin bed, with the same patterned comforter. This was probably Wendy's bedroom.

"Juvia."

Wendy smiled. "That's pretty. How old are you?"

A woman opened the door with a tray. "Calm down, Wendy. Don't talk her ear off." She had short white hair and wore a long white dress. "Hello, Juvia. I'm Wendy's mother, Grandeeney."

Grandeeney set the tray down on Wendy's nightstand. It was covered in food and medication. "Don't worry, Juvia. I'm a certified doctor. Wendy's training to become one." Grandeeney smiled and ruffled her daughter's blue hair.

"You're going to be perfectly fine, but you can stay here as long as you want. Wendy doesn't bring home many friends and I just love people."

"Mom, if I brought home my friends from school they'd destroy the house," Wendy asserted.

Grandeeney smiled. "Those Fairy Tail kids certainly live up to their expectations."

Juvia perked up, taking the coffee from Grandeeney. "Fairy Tail?"

Wendy nodded. "That's the school I go to."

"Would you happen to know anything about the application process?"

* * *

Gray was not in a good mood. So he got the school day off, but some really annoying beeping sound went off at 5 am and it had taken him 20 minutes to figure out it was his phone. Than another 20 minutes to figure out it was not _his _phone.

So, Gray had another day of skipping school on his record, an aching headache, and Juvia's phone. It was later that day when Lyon had gotten home that he, Lyon, and ultear tried to figure out what to do with it.

"We could just call her?" Lyon suggested.

Ultear groaned. "We've already been over this. We don't have her number."

"There's something out there that says everyone knows someone by 6 degrees or less." Lyon stated.

Ultear rolled her eyes. "That doesn't apply to contacts.

Ultear's phone started ringing.

"Do you want to build a snowman? Really?" Lyon teased.

"Excuse me, Mr. Halloween Elsa who went around singing Let it go," Ultear rebutted.

Lyon crossed his arms. "I was 8."

Ultear pulled out her phone. Gray's contact picture lit up her screen.

Lyon laughed. "Or she could call us."

Ultear handed Gray her phone. "Gray, its you, for you."


	4. Fairy High

**I don't know if you guys remember this, but in the first chapter I said Gray and Juvia were seniors. I lied. They are now juniors. It just has to do with the fact I'm continuing this story. Enjoy the new chapter.**

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

* * *

"You guys do realize that since she had Gray's phone, you could have just called Gray?" Ur sighed, her hands on her hips in frustration.

The teens hung their heads low.

"I deleted Gray from my contacts because he was annoying me," Ultear pouted.

"I never had him in there in the first place," Lyon shrugged.

"I, I don't know my own number," Gray stated.

"Honestly. This is the problem with technology these days. No one knows their own number." Ur shook her head, pulling out her own phone. "Oh, crap, I don't have him in there either."

Gray ugghed. "How can I have the entire city's number, but nobody have mine? Can I go now?" Gray waved Juvia's phone in the air.

Ur nodded. "And make sure to memorize your number on the way back!" she called after him.

Gray left the white house, jogging through the warm air. The sun was out and shining brightly. Gray didn't really pay much attention as he made his way to the same café where everything started.

Gray opened the door. Café Fairy was packed to the brim of couples and families eating and drinking and talking. But there was one woman in a back booth.

Juvia. She was staring out the window with a strangely huge smile on her face.

"Juvia!" he called, waving through the tables. She turned towards him, and Gray saw a huge white bandage on the side of her head. "Whoa."

Gray made his way to the booth, sliding in from across her. "What happened?" he asked.

Juvia stirred her cup of coffee. "Oh, Juvia tripped and fell on the concrete. It's nothing," she waved off.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Juvia realized. She laughed and pulled out his phone. Gray smiled and they swapped phones. Gray checked his; he had 347,872 new text messages. Erza was responsible for 347,846 of those.

Juvia and Gray sat there awkwardly.

"So…"

"So…"

Juvia suddenly stood up. "Juvia needs to go now. Bye, Gray-sama."

"Maybe I'll see you later," he replied.

Juvia's eyes lit up. "Yeah."

Gray watched as the blue-haired girl exited the busy café and start walking down the street.

Man, she was weird. But there was nothing else keeping him here, so Gray left too. He had to respond to 374, 872 text messages anyway.

* * *

Juvia breathed in deeply. She readjusted the strap of her bag before pushing open the doors that symbolized her new future. The paperwork had been a pain but she was here.

"Hello!" a high voice called. Juvia looked around, before spotting a young woman waving at her from behind another set of glass doors.

Juvia pushed them open to find herself in a typical school office.

"Hi!" the woman called again, running out from behind her desk to shake Juvia's hand. "You must be Juvia!" the woman decided.

Juvia nodded, slightly confused by this woman's demeanor.

"I'm Ms. Vermillion, the school secretary. But you can call me The First! All the kids do. It's because I was the first secretary to stay at this school for at least a year without quitting!"

The First had long long long wavy blond hair. She had green eyes and wore a long light pink dress with flowing sleeves, something Juvia didn't normally see on secretaries. Not to mention how every second The First seem more child-like than before.

The First smiled. "You must be nervous about transferring here. But there's nothing to be scared of! I'm always here in this same office if you ever need me, Miss Juvia." Juvia smiled back.

"Ah, Juvia Lockser. Nice to meet you."

Juvia turned around to find an old short man.

"I'm Headmaster Makorav. I see you've already met The First."

"Oh, hello," Juvia said. She hoped her nervousness wasn't showing.

Makorav smiled. "I can see you're nervous. I'd love to help show you around, but The First and I have a lot of paperwork to do."

The First turned back to her. "Mirajane, our student helper, will show you around today instead."

Makorav grimaced. "Actually, Mira has an excused absence today to visit Lisanna in the hospital."

"We could have Erza show her around," The First shrugged.

Makorav's eyes widened. "We're trying to make Juvia more comfortable, not scare her to Hargeon."

"Aw, it'll be fine," The First decided.

Juvia was more lost by the minute. "Um, who's Erza?" Was she a giant monster? Would she eat Juvia?

The First went back to her desk and spoke into the PA microphone, "ERZA SCARLET, WOULD YOU PLEASE COME TO THE MAIN OFFICE?"

The First came back out and finally answered her question. "Erza is our Student Council president. The Third is just overreacting."

Juvia didn't have enough time to ask who The Third was when a woman walked into the office. She had long red hair and her outfit was meticulous. Cold dark eyes stared down Juvia and Erza's presence took up the entire room.

But The First was as cheery as usual. "Erza, this is our new student, Juvia Lockser. Juvia, this is the Student Council President, Erza Scarlet. Erza, would you mind escorting her around today since Mira's gone?"

Erza had a loud strong voice too. "Of course I wouldn't mind. Welcome to Fairy High School, Juvia." Erza gave her a once-over, then smiled. "You know what Juvia, I like you. Let's be friends."

Juvia nodded, everything a little too much. Erza cheerful was almost as scary as Erza serious, if not more.

Erza took Juvia's hands in hers. "We should get going. First period starts soon, and we can't be late."

Juvia looked back on the office as Erza pulled her out into the hall. The First waved back at her. "Have fun today, Juvia! Good luck!"

It was just a new school Juvia had been begging to go to. What could happen that would make her need good luck?

* * *

Erza lead her all-around the school, visiting classrooms, meeting teachers. Juvia even got to know some students to.

Apparently, Fairy had the second largest library in all of the country, the first being the national library in Crocus. Juvia got to meet Levy McGarden, the bookish daughter of the school librarian.

There were hundreds of classrooms, some that actually had classes, and others that were used for target practice or TNT testing. And two of the teachers, Mr. Mine and Mr. Conbolt, were busy drinking in one of them.

The gym was huge too, with paintings of fairies all over the walls. There was also a random man doing pushups, who was named Elfman. He was the younger brother of Mira, the woman who was originally supposed to be showing Juvia around.

When they got to the cafeteria, there were your typical lunch ladies. Erza walked over to the counter and picked up a huge slice of strawberry cake sitting there. "Sorry," she said, "but I just love cake. And Janice is nice enough to make me some every day."

From the large cafeteria, you could see an old playground out back.

"Most schools don't have playgrounds," Erza explained. "This lot used to hold an old elementary school, and no one wanted to tear down the playground because it was brand new then. We keep it because students are very childlike during passing periods and better they get out the energy there then in here. If you look out there, you can see Mr. Conbolt's son, Romeo. He'll be coming to Fairy technically when he starts high school, but we already count him as a student here."

Juvia nodded, trying to take in all of the information.

They left the cafeteria, walking down the halls. Erza looked at her watch. "We have about ten minutes until the doors open, so anyplace else you want to see?"

At that moment, a janitor walked by pushing a trash bin. Erza pointed him out. "That's Levi, our head janitor. He's a clean freak, but he's a very short-tempered man. Don't get on his bad side."

Levi looked at them and rolled his eyes. He was very short with black hair. "More stupid scumbag students who don't know where the trash can is."

"Ignore him," Erza whispered.

They continued walking until Erza stopped. Juvia stopped too, turning to look at her.

Erza's eyes were huge. "Best. Idea. Ever. Come on, Juvia!" Erza grabbed Juvia's hand and pulled her back the opposite way.

Levi turned around to look at them, but rolled his eyes and continued to grumble.

* * *

Juvia fidgeted a little. She wasn't used to being stared at for this long.

_I know something that will help you feel a little better._

Erza was smiling at the picture from the back of the room. She was leaning on the dry-erase board with her arms crossed.

_Welcome to the art room. This is Reedus._

Reedus had been working for a while, but he seemed nice enough, and Erza thought the picture looked good.

_He's an art prodigy. Reedus, can you paint a portrait of the new student Juvia real quick? It might help her relax._

Finally, Reedus sat up. "Done," he said. Erza grinned, picking the canvas off of the easel.

_It'll be fine, Juvia, you'll love it._

Erza turned it around. Juvia gasped. It was a perfect painting of her. It even captured the nervousness in her eyes. Erza was right. Reedus was a prodigy.

"Do you like it?" Erza asked.

"Juvia, Juvia loves it. Can she keep it?"

"Oui," Reedus replied.

The bell rang, resounding through the school. Reedus picked up his easel and left the room. Erza and Juvia grabbed their respective bags.

"Juvia, may I see your schedule?" Erza questioned.

Juvia nodded, pulling it out of her bag and handing it to the red head. Erza ran her eyes down it before handing it back.

"Alright, Juvia, we both have History of Destroying Stuff first period, so I can help you there. From there on, you'll just have to play hot potato with students in order to find people to help you. I'll see you at lunch though."

"History of Destroying Stuff?" Juvia wondered. "Is that actually a class?"

"Yep. We have really strange classes here at Fairy. Like second period, you have Playing with Matches and Other Flammable Items. On your transcript, the classes are changed to actual classes like Math and English, but a couple years ago Headmaster and The First decided that everything we learned at school wasn't really important and you could always learn it on the internet. And all of the classes are grade neutral. You'll find freshman with seniors everywhere."

They left the classroom, and started walking to the other side of the school. First bell had already rung, so the halls were empty.

Juvia turned to Erza. "What grade are you in?"

Erza laughed. "I'm a senior. I technically was supposed to graduate last May, but due to a bunch of stuff, I couldn't leave Fairy and now I'm taking another year as a 12th grader. I don't mind or anything. This school would fall apart if it weren't for me."

Juvia nodded, and they made their way to classroom A137 in silence.

The silence was gone in a flash when Erza opened the door. A137 was a blur of color and sound. Juvia was afraid she would pass out again. The teacher wasn't helping either. He wore a long dark cape and was laughing with the pink-haired kid from the other day with a little blue-haired kid with cat-ears on the pink-haired kid's shoulders. Juvia couldn't keep anything straight.

Until Erza opened her mouth.

"ATTENTION!" Everyone shut their mouths and scrambled to find their seats. The teacher even sprinted to his podium, tripping over his cape and hitting the board.

"Thank you," Erza stated. With everyone's eyes on her, Juvia felt more nervous than ever. But then, in the sea of faces, she saw Gray-sama. He didn't have a shirt on and Juvia could feel the butterflies starting to pick up.

Erza put a hand on Juvia's shoulder and introduced her to the class. "Everyone, this is Juvia Lockser. She is now joining Fairy High and I would like you to make her feel welcome. Most importantly, become her friend, or I will give you detention for a week. That is all."

Juvia blushed and ducked under the class's stare. Erza directed her to an empty desk near the back. And it was right in front of Gray-sama!

Juvia, her face still red, set her bags down as Erza took the front and center desk. The teacher spontaneously pounded on his podium and in a slurred voice that was a little too loud said, "Yo. I'm not feeling too well right now, and I don't want to be here, so I'm gonna go. Free period or whatever. Erza's in charge."

The teacher walked out, his black cape billowing behind him. The second he was out, the classroom was at an even higher noise level than before.

Juvia sat awkwardly for a moment before something sharp poked her back. She jumped at the prick, and turned around. Juvia almost melted at the sight of Gray leaning across his desk, pencil still in hand.

"Hey, Juvia."


	5. Awkward Social Situations

**I AM HERE. Your day just got better. The skies are bluer. The sun is brighter. The clouds are puffier. You're welcome. *bows***

* * *

Grey. Grey. Grey everywhere. The sky covered in grey clouds. The grey grass Juvia's little feet were squishing. The grey engraved cement standing before her.

The grey rain as it poured down among grey umbrellas wearing black suits and dresses.

A large hand covered her tiny shoulder. "Miss Lockser, I must go. Your new guardian will be here soon."

Juvia nodded without looking up, and the hand left with a sigh. Juvia's umbrella trembled in her pale hands, and her lips as well. She bit them down, and continued to stare at the stone. A single blue lock, that seemed grey as well, slipped down and hung in her eye. Juvia could feel the tears well up in her eye, but nothing fell. If only her mom had done her curls. Her mother always got the pins to hold perfectly, and Juvia never asked how. She never thought about it. Juvia always thought her mom would be there to do her curls.

"Juvia Lockser."

Juvia turned her head, twisting her pink umbrella.

The woman who had just spoke stepped forward, a large smile on her wrinkled face. "Juvia Lockser. I am Alexandria James. I am your new mother. Call me Mommy."

Juvia just stood there, insulted by Alexandria James's audacity to say that when she must have clearly understood the circumstances. Alexandria James just smiled.

Finally, Alexandria James lunged forward, and grabbed Juvia's hand. "Come on, Juvia. No time to lose!"

Juvia stumbled over her black shoes, dropping her pink umbrella on the ground. Juvia picked it up, but her hands were covered in mud just by touching it.

"Juvia," Alexandria James whined. "You don't want that silly, dirty old umbrella. We need to go. Don't you want to meet your new sister?"

Juvia shook her head, but by then, they had reached an average mini-van. A little face was poking out of one of the windows. Juvia pulled open the door and climbed in. Alexandria James pointed to a booster seat, indicating it was hers.

In order to reach her seat, Juvia had to climb past a little girl, no older than 3. Juvia tripped and fell onto the floor before pulling herself up and buckling in. The little girl looked at her in confusion.

"Mommy, who is this girl? Why is she in my car?"

"Savannah, this is your new older sister Juvia." Alexandria James tossed Juvia's muddy umbrella into the trunk, almost bending part of it.

Alexandria James got into the driver's seat and started the car, but continued to ask Juvia questions. "You're ten, right? Savannah is three. What's your favorite color? Savannah's is red. Favorite animal? Savannah likes giraffes."

Juvia stared out the grey window at the pouring grey rain from the dreary grey rain. "Yes. Blue. Butterfly."

Alexandria James grimaced. "Juvia, I'm your mommy. Actually talk to me."

"You aren't Juvia's mommy," Juvia whispered.

"Juvia, don't mumble. I can't hear you," Alexandria James complained.

Juvia tore away from the window. With every ounce in her she screamed, "YOU AREN'T JUVIA'S MOMMY! JUVIA'S MOM IS DEAD! JUVIA'S DAD IS DEAD! YOU WILL NEVER MAke up… for… them…" Juvia teetered off.

Alexandria James had pulled off to the side of the road. Her glare made Juvia want to disappear forever. "Juvia. You will never talk to me like that. I am your guardian now. You will do what I say, no matter what. Are we clear, you foolish girl?"

Juvia nodded. Savannah started giggling. Alexandria James sighed and started driving again.

A little while later, she glanced back at Juvia. "From now on, Juvia, call me Ms. Alexandria."

Juvia nodded, continuing to stare out the grey window, at the grey rain falling from the grey clouds hitting the grey roads. And a grey tear rolled down her grey cheek as well.

* * *

Juvia nearly melted at the sight of his dark eyes. If she could turn into water, Juvia would be a puddle. But Juvia couldn't blow this. She took a deep breath.

"He-hey, Gray-sama," Juvia said coolly.

"I didn't expect to see you here. Don't you go to Phantom?" Gray-sama replied in that manner of his.

Juvia grimaced. "Juvia did, but there was this situation, so Juvia decided it was in her best interest to go to a different school."

Gray-sama shrugged. "Okay. Well, since we're going to be classmates from now on, do you wanna come with me to get coffee or something after school?"

Juvia nodded. "Sure. That would be great."

If only that's how it had played out.

Instead, Juvia took one look at Gray and the fact he was only wearing his underwear, and her breakfast toast decided to go for a spin.

Juvia sprung up, clutching her stomach. Gray leaned back. "Juvia, are you okay?"

Juvia's body lurched forward and out came the contents of her breakfast, right on to the girl next to her's bag.

Juvia looked up, mortified. Everyone was staring at her with their mouths open. Juvia clutched her red face and started running out of the room.

But her vision was blurred from the tears in her eyes, and Juvia landed splat on the ground before she made it halfway to the door. Juvia started to pull herself up, but she vomited again onto the basic cheap school carpet. Tears dripped onto the puddle.

Juvia didn't know how she managed to make it out of that classroom with her crying and puke down her shirt, but she did. Juvia stumbled to the bathroom, thankful for Erza's tour earlier. Juvia fell into the closest stall, clumsily locking it behind her. There she puked into the toilet once more.

Someone came running into the bathroom. An unfamiliar voice called out, "Juvia! Juvia where are you?"

Juvia choked, "Juvia- her-" before she had a few more seconds of vomiting. The person threw open the stall door and held back her covered curls as she finished. Juvia noticed how unnaturally warm they were. Everyone she knew had icy cold hands, even Gray-sama.

Juvia stood up, and in a flash her hands were filled with paper towels. Juvia wiped her face and hands off as best as she could.

The voice asked, "Do you need more?" Juvia turned and the sight caught her off guard. She was a pretty blonde girl with a very large chest and not near enough covering it. Her skirt was tiny too, but she had large warm brown eyes and a bright smile. Her arms were filled with paper towels from the machine on the wall and had a large key ring dangling at her hip.

Juvia nodded, and the blonde girl passed her some. Then Juvia realized.

"Juvia is so so so so sooo sorry about your bag. Juvia will pay for the damages," she apologized.

The blonde girl just laughed. "Don't worry about it. That bag has already been puked on multiple times, as well as dragged through mash potatoes and used as a litter box. And that was just my first day here."

Juvia gasped. The blonde girl put some hair behind her ear and continued to laugh. "Fairy sure is fun. But I'm glad I transferred here and not Phantom like I was about to. Oh, yeah, thanks for that."

Juvia gasped again. "You're that girl from the other day."

The blonde girl nodded. "Yup. Well, it's nice to meet you formally." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Lucy."

Juvia wrapped her still ick covered hand in paper towels and shook Lucy's. "Juvia."

Lucy looked around the room. "So Erza said she would take care of Levi, and we need to clean you up and get you to the nurse."

Juvia shook her head. "No nurse. Juvia doesn't need the nurse. It was probably just some first day bug. Juvia's fine now."

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it and nodded. "Okay. But we should definitely get you some different clothes. I have some extra ones in my locker. They should probably fit you."

Lucy ran off to grab the clothes, while Juvia stood at the sink. Whoa. Her curls were brown and her face was streaked in tears and puffy red. Her mouth, chin, neck, and dress front were all covered in this gross gunk, and to top it all off, she stunk. Juvia could be dead for all a nose knew.

Juvia grabbed a wad of paper towels, ran them under the faucet, squirted a smidge of soap and got to work.

By the time Lucy returned, Juvia was almost back to normal. She just had to pin up her curls. Lucy dropped the wad of clothes and ran over to her.

"Here let me help," Lucy offered. "I never had anyone's hair to do before."

Juvia shrugged. "Okay." She handed Lucy the pins she had pulled out. Juvia's hair now was just a mess.

Lucy stopped for a moment, then grabbed a brush from the clothing wad on the floor. Lucy started to brush Juvia's hair out, so it fell past her shoulders in long blue waves.

"You should wear it like this," Lucy recommended.

Juvia shook her head. "No, Juvia always pins it up."

Lucy looked at her for a second before following Juvia's instructions on how to put it up to make her thick loops. Afterwards, Lucy handed Juvia the clothes. "Go change," she ordered.

Juvia came out of the stall a minute later and took a look in the mirror. Her outfit was a blue dress with spaghetti straps. It was definitely much lower on the chest and shorter at the bottom, but it didn't small like puke and therefore worked perfectly fine.

"Thank you so much Lucy." Juvia said as the two finished throwing away the paper towels.

"Don't worry about it," Lucy replied.

They walked back to the classroom in silence. Lucy stopped right before they reached the door. "Hey, Juvia, steer clear of Levi for a couple weeks. Actually, steer clear of Levi all the time, but especially be careful now because puke is Levi's least favorite thing ever. Except for maybe Natsu because he generates 90% of the puke around here."

Juvia nodded. "Um, Lucy, how do you know Gray-sama?"

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "You mean Gray? He's just a really good friend. You have nothing to worry about." Lucy winked as she said the last part.

Before Juvia could respond, Lucy had thrown open the door to A137 and was already a part of the never-ending conversation.

Juvia poked her head into the bustling classroom. She peered around, trying to see if anyone was watching her. To Juvia's relief, the puking incident was completely forgotten about. Juvia started to walk back to her seat when a sound reverberated through her mind and deafened her eardrums. A second later, the room was a madhouse. Everyone was pushing and shoving their way through each other, trying to reach the hallway. Juvia was a salmon trying to swim upstream through the crowd in order to grab her bag, but Juvia was losing. Juvia tripped and fell, but nobody noticed.

When the massacre was over a second later, Juvia was barely able to stand up, grab her bag, and walk out into the hallway. Juvia checked her schedule. Next she had Playing with Matches and Other Flammable Items. It was room B122. The B hallway was completely across the school, and there were no times on her schedule. Weird. When would that next murderous bell tone?

Juvia frantically searched her pink paper to find more information, but there was nothing.

Juvia bumped into something. She looked away from the paper to see a maybe-12 year-old girl with dark blue hair. She had her nose stuck in a pamphlet.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," the girl apologized. She looked up from her pamphlet.

"Wendy?" Juvia jumped back.

Wendy smiled. "Hello Juvia. So you actually went and transferred to Fairy."

Another face poked out. "C'mon, Wendy. You have a class with Erza next. You can't be late and who knows when the first will sound the next bell."

"Its okay, Carla." Wendy laughed. "Juvia looks like she could use a little help."

That was the most correct thing Juvia had ever heard.

* * *

**Until next time on How Long Can I Procrastinate the Next Chapter. Wendy explains the meaning of High School. Juvia braves the lunchroom. Will Levi the janitor get his revenge? See you then.**


	6. Navigating the First Day

**Can I hire someone who can remind to update my fanfics and keep me on task? Because I sure need it. **

* * *

Juvia nodded, taking in all of the information.

"I hope that helped," Wendy offered.

"Thank you very much Wendy. It definitely did."

Wendy smiled. "I'm glad I could help."

"C'mon, Wendy," Carla complained. Carla was Wendy's little sister, as Juvia had just learned. But Carla acted more like the big sister than Wendy.

Wendy and Carla stood up from the table and exited the lunchroom. That was another thing Juvia had learned. Everyone tended to migrate to the cafeteria during breaks. It was the center of the school, and food service was available at all times, including during class periods. Back at Phantom, everyone sped off to the next class, not daring to be late for fear of the consequences. Here at Fairy, nobody cared about tardiness, except for Erza of course. Students would show up half way through the period and it wouldn't matter.

But the biggest change of all of course, was the scheduling. According to Wendy, The First was in charge of the obscene tone that acted as a bell. And there were no set times she had to ring it. Just whenever The First felt like it. The supposed schedule was 8-3, with seven 50 minute periods (one of those being lunch) and 10 minute passing periods. But The First didn't care about that. Some days, there would be 2 minute passing periods and 10 minute classes where everyone would be gone by 10 am if The First was impatient. But if The First was tired and lazy and napped half the day, you could be at school until 10 at night. Usually The First had you out from 2-4.

Juvia checked her watch. 8:37. Juvia picked up her blue bag. Next she had How to Use a Calculator. "What kind of class is Playing with Matches and Other Flammable Items?" she mumbled, shaking her head at Fairy's insanity.

Juvia easily found her classroom. She peeked her head in. The room was only half full, and there was no sign of Gray. Juvia sighed in relief.

Lucy saw Juvia peeking from the door frame and waved her over. Juvia shyly shuffled to the seat next to her new friend. "Do you guys, um, have assigned seating?" Juvia was nervous at the prospect at another failed social encounter.

Lucy laughed. "Nah, you're fine." Juvia breathed easily again. "You know, you don't have to be so scared. We don't bite. Except for Natsu, but avoid him and you'll be fine."

Juvia shifted in her chair. "Juvia knows. Its just that Fairy is so different."

Lucy nodded. "How different? I came here from homeschooling, and it normally takes people 15 minutes to adjust."

"Well," Juvia pointed out. "At Phantom, everything is very calculated and exact. Nobody really hung out with friends during the day. All that mattered was grades."

Lucy thought for a moment. "But that takes all the fun out of school. And besides, everyone already knows who ends up getting the top grades of Fairy."

"Who?" Juvia asked, her Phantom-self coming back to evaluate her competition.

"Erza, obviously, Mirajane, and this one senior named Laxus. He's another case of staying back a year."

"Lucy, if you don't mind, what is the whole story of them staying back a year?" Juvia asked.

Lucy shrugged. "I actually don't know. I wasn't here when it happened. It's a pretty big story apparently. I tried asking Erza once, and she almost cut my head off. You may have more luck, but I wouldn't risk it."

A weird squawking noise echoed through the room. Students slipped into their desks, and a teacher walked into the room. "What was that?" Juvia asked, covering her ears.

"Oh, the bell," Lucy explained. She pulled out a box of matches.

"What happened to that loud tone noise?"

Lucy waved her off. "The bells change every time. The First has hundreds of sounds. It's supposedly to make mimicking the bell impossible. That's one of the reasons they're so loud too."

Juvia nodded. She reached into her bag and pulled out her own set of matches. She had been surprised when 200 boxes of matches were needed for class, but now it all made sense. Juvia used three boxes that day.

The next period went surprisingly fast, and then lunch.

The second the lunch bell applauded, everyone sprinted out of the classroom. Juvia took a minute to collect her belongings and walk to the cafeteria, but by then the lunchroom was packed. Juvia gaped at the sheer amount of people surrounding the table. All of the tables had been pushed together in the middle of the room, forming one long table. Everyone was squished together, and food was flying.

Juvia held her sack lunch in one hand, nervously looking around. She contemplated walking outside and eating on the little playground, but Erza caught her eye and waved her over. Juvia ducked a few flying potatoes on her way.

Erza forcefully pushed Gray across the bench, and Juvia sat down between them. The lunchroom was nuts. Erza turned around to talk to a woman with white hair, and Gray was busy arguing with the pink haired boy across from him. Juvia's head pounded as she opened her sack, pulling out a sandwich. Gray tapped her shoulder and Juvia went red.

"Hey," he said. "Wanna trade?" Gray held out a single raw tomato. Gray scratched his head. "The food at my house is a little weird." Juvia felt her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Oh Juvia loves tomatoes. She used to pick them from the garden in her backyard when she was younger." Juvia's eyes fell at the old memory, but she quickly perked back up. She handed Gray her sandwich, and their fingers brushed together. Chills slid up her spine, making Juvia's face even redder.

Juvia busied herself with the tomato while Gray ate her sandwich. Her sandwich! The sandwich she had made that morning! That her hands had touched! Thank goodness for the tomato Juvia had to cover her crazy blushing cheeks.

Juvia slipped into a daydream, imagining what it would be like to eat tomatoes with Gray every day. Juvia refocused when she heard her name. "Huh?" Juvia asked.

Lucy, Natsu, the little kid with bright blue hair, and Gray were deep in an argument.

"I doubt that's really what happened."

"No, I totally whipped that guys butt."

"More like you got your butt whipped."

"I was there! You were on the floor covered in blood when Juvia came in and saved you!"

"Nu-uh. I saved Juvia. That guy punched her in the head so I had to carry her to the hospital."

"Natsu I saw you in the hospital. Your head was bashed in."

Juvia tried to butt into the flying argument. "Um, what are you guys talking about?"

Gray scoffed and pointed at Natsu. "This guy here thinks that he beat the one guy from Phantom that beat him up the other day."

"Do you mean Gajeel?" Juvia offered.

"You know him?" the little boy leaned back, frightened.

Juvia understood she was on thin water. "Um, not really. He was in some of Juvia's classes but Juvia wouldn't say we were friends."

They all breathed a sigh of relief. Lucy picked the conversation back up. "But Natsu, I was there. You got your butt kicked."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did t-"

Erza spun around and shot Natsu and Lucy a look. They closed their mouths in lightning speed. The little boy started to laugh. Erza shot him a look too.

Gray sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "That flame brain I swear."

"Flame brain?" Juvia asked.

Gray nodded. "Natsu keeps a waffle iron in his locker and during last year's locker check he moved it into mine. Thing over heated and the entire west wing of the school was rebuilt.

"Do you and Natsu not get along?"

"Most definitely not. You know my tomato from earlier?" Juvia nodded. "Natsu decided to fling my lunch tray halfway across the school and all I had left was a tomato."

Juvia took in all the information, looking around the cafeteria. "So who's the little boy with blue hair?"

"That's Happy. He's Natsu's little brother. But he's a lot smarter than Natsu that's for su-"

A loud car horn cut him off. The entire contents of the cafeteria sped out the doors in a flash, leaving Juvia with Erza and the white-haired girl. Juvia sighed, picking up her bag and wading through the trash to the doors.

Erza called out. "Wait, Juvia, I want you to meet someone." Juvia turned around and walked over.

Erza gestured to the white haired girl. "This is Mira. She was originally supposed to help you tour the school, but was caught up visiting Lisanna."

Mirajane smiled and stuck out her hand. "Hello Juvia. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you, but Lisanna got into a huge accident about a year ago and is still recovering. Anyway, if you ever need anything, please come find me. I understand Erza can be a bit intimidating."

Erza playfully punched Mira in the shoulder, and Mira smiled. "Anyway, I'll see you around." Mira waved and she walked out of the cafeteria with Erza. Juvia was left with only trash and a grumpy Levi.

Juvia sighed. At least she wasn't left with nothing.

* * *

The end of the day fire alarm bell sent the Fairy students reacting the same way. Everyone sprinted out of the classrooms and crowded the hallways. Juvia reacted the same as well. She waited for the crowds to disperse before grabbing her blue bag and exiting the room.

On her way out, she bumped right into the first.

"Ooomph," The First said.

Juvia wasted no time apologizing. The First only laughed. "Take a deep breath and calm down a little Juvia. You seem very much stressed. Don't worry, we don't bite."

Juvia nodded and started to walk to her locker. The First called out after her. "It's only your first day! It gets better!"

Once Juvia got to her locker, Lucy and Erza were already there. They had already decided they were going to walk Juvia home, and Juvia didn't have enough energy to argue with them. Juvia grabbed her backpack and her duffle bag she had managed to squeeze in the bottom.

"What's with the duffle bag?" Lucy asked as the three made their way out of the school.

"Oh, um," Juvia wrung her hands nervously. "Juvia's leaving Ms. Alexandria. She's gonna kill me for going to Fairy. Its not like she's going to report Juvia or anything. She's hated Juvia since day one. Juvia'll just show up for house checks and everything will be fine."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lucy looked away awkwardly.

"No," Erza stated.

"Huh?" Juvia asked.

"No, you aren't staying at a hotel. You can come live with me," Erza decided.

Juvia's eyes widened. "Ju-Juvia can't do that!"

"Of course you can," Erza shrugged. "I've been meaning to find someone to help with the rent anyway. Come on."

Erza grabbed Juvia's hand and started pulling her towards the direction of her apartment. Lucy only smiled and laughed.

Juvia herself started to smile as they neared the complex. Maybe things could get better.

* * *

**Thanks for putting up with my craziness guys. Love you all.**


End file.
